Worcester searching for a slots adviser

With time growing short, the city is still in the market for a savvy legal adviser with gambling industry experience, but not too much.

City Manager Michael V. O’Brien is looking for a law or consulting firm to advise him as he negotiates a host community agreement with a Chicago company seeking to build a $200 million slot machine parlor near Kelley Square.

Mr. O’Brien said he has interviewed two firms with extensive experience in the gambling industry, but decided to keep looking out of concern that past work the firms did for Rush Street Gaming of Chicago created potential conflicts of interest.

“They were very forthcoming and wanted to be transparent as to previous relationships,” Mr. O’Brien said. “I’m now awaiting additional research on qualified firms.”

Legal services contracts are exempt from state procurement laws, so the city is not required to solicit bids for a consultant through its purchasing department, Mr. O’Brien said.

Even so, the city is facing some time pressure to hire a consultant to represent its interests in negotiations with the Chicago gambling company, which created a subsidiary called Mass Gaming & Entertainment LLC in January to seek the single slots-only gambling license.

The state Gaming Commission has said it intends to award the slots parlor license before the three resort casino licenses. The commission’s timeline calls for any slots-only host community agreements to be signed by August at the latest.

That gives the city just four months to identify potential consultants, interview them, hire one and then negotiate the terms of what could be a lengthy, complicated gambling pact potentially covering everything from required traffic improvements to local hiring preferences.

The city’s expense in hiring a consultant could be reimbursed up to $50,000 from the initial $400,000 application fee paid to the state by Mass Gaming & Entertainment under the provisions of the state gambling law.

If the two sides reach an agreement, city voters would approve or reject the proposed deal at a referendum two to three months after the agreement is signed. The referendum would have to be held no later than October, according to the timeline specified by the Gaming Commission, which expects to award the slots license in December.

The other two known slots proposals competing with the Worcester plan are at Raynham Park, a former dog track turned simulcast racing center near Taunton, and Plainridge Race Course, a harness track in Plainville in Southeastern Massachusetts. A fourth bidder for the slot-only license has not specified a location but has contacted Danvers officials.

The City Council voted 9-2 last week, over the objections of vocal opposition to slots in Worcester, to recommend Mr. O’Brien negotiate a host community agreement to put before voters. Councilor-at-Large Konstantina B. Lukes and District 4 Councilor Sarai Rivera cast the two votes in opposition to the motion.